This is an excellent text with much to recommend it. The structure is clear and the key points are accessible even to the beginner. There are some great photographs with a large section of colour images showing something of the splendour of the forests. Perhaps its best attribute is the freshness it brings to the topic by virtue of the perspective it takes. There``s so much written on rain forests that this novel approach is valuable. It should be seen as a key text for those teaching this area of ecology.